Warrenton deals tough loss to gridiron Dawgs

Blanked 0-44 by Lost River in their Aug. 31 football preseason opener, the Creswell Bulldogs suffered another loss to host Warrenton, 12-41, on Sept. 7.
Based on their low numbers and lack of competitiveness in 3A, Creswell received OSAA permission to drop down a division this season, but opened against two tough 2A teams, noted Head Coach Scott Worsham.
At Warrenton, the Bulldogs trailed 6-14 after the first quarter, 12-21 at halftime and 12-25 after the third.
“Like with Lost River, we kind of hung with them through the first half but the second half got away from us,” Worsham said, citing stamina issues and mistakes, including blocked punts, missed tackles and not blocking or running plays correctly.
Slotback Tayler Forsman got Creswell on the board with a 60-yard first-quarter run, and new starting quarterback Dallton Dewey scored on a quarterback sneak in the second.
“Tayler didn’t play last year, came out late this year and made a big difference for us. He was probably the fastest player on the field; he outpaced everybody during his 60-yard run,” Worsham said, “and Dallton’s a good quarterback.”
With three catches for 49 yards and seven rushes for 93 yards, including a touchdown, Forsman accounted for 142 of Creswell’s 239 total yards of offense. He also made two tackles and knocked down two Warrenton passes.
Dewey completed 10 of 23 passes for 139 yards, and made 12 rushes for 11 yards, including a touchdown.
Chase Gallegos made three catches for 42 yards and led Creswell with eight tackles; Levi Bones had two catches for 31 yards and four tackles; Tyler Nicol had an 18-yard catch and four tackles.
Jaycob Kremer and Gabe Hastings each had seven tackles; Tyler Atwood had five; Nick Mullen and Logan Johnson each had four; and Dean Howard added three.
The Bulldogs will aim for their first win Friday against Illinois Valley – and with late roster additions swelling their varsity ranks to about 17, Worsham is hoping fatigue and mental errors will be reduced.
“Our numbers are getting better, we’re getting better, and it feels like we’re really close to turning this thing around,” Worsham said. “We got off to a rough start, but we’re better than we were at this time last year. We’re due for a win – it’s been a long time. And like I tell the guys, it’s not where you start, it’s where you end.”